y as a symbol of an immortal soul and had also evolved the
idea of a winged head, analogous to that of a cherub, to represent a
blest spirit, dwelling in celestial regions.

It is noticeable that the name of the Mexican priests was papa,
which syllables are the first in the word papalotl=butterfly. It may
be that a distinction was made and that the souls of the dead
priests were supposed to assume the shape of butterflies or moths,
whilst the warriors became celestial humming-birds.

6 In connection with Montezuma's use of a litter it should be noticed
that, in the picture-writings, only the culture-hero Quetzalcoatl
and the bird god Huitzilopochtli are represented as seated on
litters. The two bars of Quetzalcoatl's litter, figured in Duran's
atlas (Tratado 2, cap. 1 a) terminate at each end in a serpent's
head. The pair of twin serpents thus rendered, evidently convey an
allusion to his name, which would be equally comprehensible in the
Maya or Mexican languages. In another portion of Duran's Atlas
(Trat. 2, chap. 2), Huitzilopochtli is figured as seated on a litter
masked as a bird, and a finely-executed native picture of the
bird-god, being borne on a litter, is in the B. N. MS. where he is
named "the precious lord" and is represented with a sceptre in his
hand surmounted by a heart. This latter detail is of special
interest, since it indicates that the Mexicans employed the heart
with the same symbolical and metaphorical meaning as the
Maya-Quiches and Tzentals. The latter had named their culture-hero
"Votan"="the Heart" (of the people). (Brinton Hero-myths, p. 217.)
In the Popol-Vuh, the sacred book of the Quiches, the supreme
divinity is named "the Heart of the heaven, whose name is Hurakan."
He is also named the "Heart of the Earth," a title whose equivalent
in Mexico=Tepe-Yollotl, was applied to Tezcatlipoca and associated
with the bodiless voice, the echo, which was supposed to proceed
from the "heart (or life) of the Mountain." The above data
undoubtedly prove the important point that Huitzilopochtli and
Tezcatlipoca were respectively entitled "the Heart of the Heaven"
and "the Heart of the Earth."

7 Short triangular capes are worn to this day by the Mexican women,
and are called quechquemitl=shoulder cap